Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 122 -

Becca.

Forty-eight hours after having Dahlia, I was finally able to make my way back home. I had never been so happy to walk through the large glass front double doors into the relaxed comfort of my New Zealand home. Boxes still lined the areas in some places where I hadn't had the time to unpack, but it didn't matter to me. At the end of the day, it was still my home, and with every moment I spent here, I knew things would get better. "Welcome home, my sweet, Dahlia," I whispered to the tiny sleeping baby in my arms.

"Everything is set up for her," Neal said softly from behind me as he brought in my bags from the car. "I also managed to hang the thing you wanted on her bedroom wall."

A spark of joy ran through me as I turned down the hallway towards the nursery. It was joined with my bedroom, and as soon as I slid back the bar-style door, my breath was taken away.

The soft cream walls were accented with tons of leaves and flowers, and even Dahlia's name, engraved within wood and painted, hung upon the wall. It was remarkable and beautiful at the same time. My breath was taken away by everything that was done.

I hadn't had a chance to properly finish putting her room together when I went into labor, but I had planned to take the next two days to be able to finish everything now that she was here.

So seeing that Neal had taken it upon himself made my heart swell.

"You did all this yourself," I asked, watching the smile on his face grow even wider as he nodded his head.

"I did. I wanted to make sure that you didn't have to stress yourself with getting the room done. You should be able to take this time to spend with Dahlia."

Not wasting a moment, I leaned up and pressed my lips against his in a gentle kiss. "How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?"

There was a twinkle in his eye at my words, but it quickly disappeared when Dahlia grunted with a small cry. "Let's get you both settled back in."

Neal turned, making his way from the nursery, and my brows furrowed in confusion. It didn't take a genius to know that something was wrong with him and that, the last few days he had seemed far off more than anything. Stepping from the nursery, I spotted Layla coming down the hallways with Tally's son in her arms. "I thought I heard you." She said cheerfully, and seeing the little boy smiling in her arms made me smile more. "Oh, Layla. How have you been?"

"It's been fantastic. I managed to help get some things done around the house for you while the little man here took his nap. We even went grocery shopping with Allegra," she replied cheerfully. "And the package that arrived is on your bed." "Package?" I wasn't expecting a package. In fact, not many people knew that I was living here besides my father, but he and his soon-to-be wife weren't supposed to be arriving until the end of the week. "Yeah, the mail courier delivered it this morning after Neal left to fetch you."

"Huh... I wonder what it is," I muttered under my breath as I shook the thought away from my mind. "Why don't you show me what else you have been up to, and then we can put on the kettle." She nodded her head in agreement, and her smile brightened. She was so much different than Sara, and even though I knew that I was still slightly terrified of her taking charge of the children. Was there honestly anyone that I could trust?

******

After two hours of relaxing with everyone, and spending time with the children, I slowly made my way with Dahlia towards my bedroom to lay her down. She was still much too young for the nursery, and honestly, having her close helped my anxiety.

Humming softly, I rocked Dahlia in my arms as I made my way toward my room. The moment that I pushed the door open, though, I froze in my place as I stared at the package on my bed.

I wasn't sure who exactly it was from. I made my way towards her small bassinet that sat waiting then laid her sleeping body down, making sure she was comfortable. "Sleep, my beautiful."

I had always heard that the best time to rest is when your newborn rests, and honestly, I was exhausted. However, the box on my bed drew more curiosity to me than my tiredness, and as I turned from where Dahlia slept, I examined it. "No return address?" I muttered to myself as I slowly opened it to reveal the contents inside. I was taken aback by the small trinkets that were placed inside: a child's small hairbrush, silver and gleaming within the light of the room, not to mention a beautifully quilted blanket with Asian designs.

I didn't know anybody in Asia, at least not that I could recall, and having this gift here with no return address and nothing but a piece of paper sitting on top that said 'until we meet again' left me wondering who exactly had sent it, and was this a warning, or was it simply just a nice gesture?

Grabbing the blanket, I admired the designs upon it. My hands ran over each stitch, and a smile crossed my lips as I realized that whoever had made this had done so by hand. It wasn't store bought; it was handmade and crafted especially for Dahlia.

I took the blanket and laid it upon her sleeping body. She was still too tiny to have anything heavy around her, but seeing it just at the end of her feet made me smile because whoever had done this obviously cared a great deal about her. In a few months, she would be old enough to share a room with her nephew, and even though they would grow up like brother and sister, I couldn't help but wonder what the relationship would be.

Now that I was better, I could form my relationship with Tally's son slowly. Of course, it had been strained initially, but with everything going on, I couldn't focus on myself, let alone somebody else. Not to mention, for somebody who'd never taken care of a child, it was not an easy feat to quickly learn.

Thank goodness for the people that I surrounded myself with, and with my father and his new wife coming to live here in New Zealand with us, we were going to be one big happy family, and even with the losses Taliana's son had to overcome, we would still be stronger together.

Even with parts of us no longer around.

"Where did that come from? That's pretty." Neal's voice caught my attention, and looking over my shoulder towards the door, I smiled at him.

"I'm not sure. Layla said that it arrived here not long after you left to come pick me up. It was addressed to me, and inside were baby items, so I just figured that someone must have sent a late baby shower gift."

Furrowing his brows, Neal seemed very confused at what I was saying. He strode across the room, looked at the lid of the box, looked at the items that were now by Dahlia and frowned. I didn't understand what the sudden change in Neal's mood was for, but whatever it was, he wasn't pleased.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking like that?"

"Looking like what? I'm not looking like anything," he muttered in a rather grumpy tone. Something was definitely up, and whatever it was had really pissed Neal off that someone had sent these gifts. Which made me question who had sent them....

"Neal, you already know that you are a terrible liar. Something is obviously wrong, and you're not happy about whoever sent these gifts, so that means that you must know who sent these gifts. So why don't you go ahead and explain that to me?"

Rolling his eyes, he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as if that was the answer that I was seeking. "I don't know who sent them, I just replace it kind of odd, considering not many people know where we live."

He did have a point. Only a select few people knew where we lived, and if someone had sent this gift, it must have been one of them. But the problem was that even though there was no return address, there were Asian stamps all across the box, words that said fragile, and other symbols that I had no clue as to the meaning of.

It was quite obvious that whoever had sent this, it had come from Japan, and I knew for a fact that I did not know anybody that was in Japan, unless somebody that I did know happened to be on vacation there recently, which itself seemed very odd.

"Who knows? Crazier things happen every day." I forced a smile at him.

Shrugging off the entire situation, I made my way over towards the dresser to put away the things that I had taken with me to the hospital. Neil's reaction to the entire situation still played over in my mind, and knowing very well that he was still in the room, I tried to pretend that I wasn't bothered, even though I was.

It had been so long since I had to have worried about everything that had happened months ago, and finally, when I was getting used to the idea of living the life that I currently live, something like this happens, and I'm left without answers. "I'll figure out who did it for you, don't worry," Neil replied in a very gruff tone that caused me to look over at him from where I was standing.

"You seem very bothered by this, and I wouldn't be. There's nobody that we know of that could be in Japan. For all I know, perhaps it's one of my father's friends. I will ask him about it when he flies in."

My response seemed not to be enough for him and nodding his head, Neal said not another word as he exited the room. It was weird how the entire way back, he had been this loving and caring man, so proud and so affectionate for a child that, course, wasn't biologically his, and within a matter of moments of receiving a gift, his whole entire persona had changed.

Part of me had wondered for the past few weeks if he had been hiding things.

Yet, I never questioned him because he was a man of integrity, and I knew he would never do anything to upset me. At least not intentionally.